> Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 17:44:43 -0400 > From: Mac Duff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> My sister, a computer user of about five years and reared on > Windows, has been taking a web marketing and site design course. > She is looking to get a new computer in the near future, and of > course, I have been trying to swing her over to the Mac. In terms of applications for web development, my opinion is that there are applications of equal quality available on both platforms. The ability of the Mac to run Windows Apps using Virtual PC is not matched by any equivalent application on Windows. In the future, if she were to expand her focus on marketing and design to more than just the web (a common thing for web designers to do, in my experience), she might find that print houses and the like are much more easy to work with, since they can be Mac-oriented. However, if they turn out to be exclusively PC-based, she can do the additional work required get it to a PC from a Mac ... the other direction is harder. It's likely that courses for the Windows platform will not translate well to Mac users, especially online courses (the "problems" that the Mac users may have been having may have been browser-related!). But the learning curve for a Mac is not that steep, and she already has enough Windows experience to be able to readily understand the course material, so it doesn't really matter what the other Mac users are having trouble with. The bottom line, however, is that an professional web developer will not have large obstacles to success, whichever platform they prefer. The Windows systems are significantly cheaper to purchase. Consider, though, that a professional *independent* web developer will *need* access to at least one Mac system for testing purposes anyway. Sandy McMurray made some excellent points on this topic. If you have a Windows 2000 machine*** and access to a Mac for testing now and then, you can get decent testing on IE6 and a couple of Netscape versions for Windows, and basic confirmation on a Mac browser or two. (*** the only Windows OS I would recommend for regular use, and it *is* a good OS, I use it). But with a Mac running OSX and Virtual PC, you could have "Guest OS installations" that have Windows 98 running IE4, IE5, and IE6, and any other browser she can find, not to mention a Linux install or seven. And she can add or discard x86 platforms to that list if she needs to, she can reinstall one or five of them if they get mucked up the way Windows can. Did you know that you *can't* run more than one version of IE under Windows? It's true. Does she know how to set up multiple boots of Windows and Linux on a PC? I doubt it. And, if you really want to sell the Mac platform to her, stress that *she is your sister*, which means that your own Mac expertise will be available in the event that she has any problems on that platform. This may go a long way to alleviating any concerns. > Yes; I've experienced that. Is that due to some brand of > software with which > the site was written, or is that literally a shortcoming in > Mac OS that it > might not support certain web standards? Typically, the problems are with the way the site was written. However, it is often also the case that the Mac user is using Netscape 4.x, which, quite frankly, sucks. A VPC install with IE6 would allow access to those sites which are otherwise not usable. I hope I've given you some insight. > Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 07:34:17 -0700 > From: Steve Kidd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >incompatibility with Apple's JAVA... Or what... Or just plain bias > >on the teacher's part. > > More likely a plain lack of knowledge on the part of the teacher. Not > to knock Windows users too much, but generally they're a little > narrow-minded - they don't really understand that there are > alternatives and they don't look for better ways of doing things. I would argue this in the general case. Certainly this mindset is more common among Windows users, but that's just because Windows is the mainstream and Mac is not ... if the OSes' positions in the market were reversed, those users would have been using Mac machines all along, and be just as unimaginative. You can't infer anything about the user based on their choice of the de facto standard for their OS. You *can* infer things about people who have *not* chosen the de facto standard, however ... good things, for the most part. > 1) Compatibility: There are no compatibility issues. JPEGs, GIFs, > HTML files, in fact the majority of file formats, are cross platform. This is very true, data exchange in the internetworked world is not a problem. However, see others' comments about web site compatibility. > 2) Software: All major software titles have always > been available for both platforms ... The major design apps are > now available for OSeX as well Certainly, there is no shortage of quality software for designers on the Mac platform. Definitely at least equal to that on Windows. > 3) Stability - ... [MSCE techs warn that XP has] > compatibility problems with external devices. (Their choice, BTW, in > case your sis does go to the dark side, is 2000 or NT) Definitely Windows 2000. Currently, it's the only choice. > OTOH, I don't crash more than once a week, if that, in OS 9, and OSeX > is incredibly stable. It's near impossible to crash the system. I crash much much less than that using Windows 2000. But yes, Mac OSX is reputed to be highly stable as well. > Forgot one important point - Quality. > > In my experience with PCs, the only ones that matches Apple quality > are the Dells. They seem to have equivalent levels of compatibility > and quailty control. Mac machines are generally of higher quality than the average PC system, and the consistency of hardware is a great advantage from a support standpoint. I've said for a while when discussing these topics with friends that the Mac is a premium PC (in the original meaning of the word PC). I regard the hardware and OS as being a step above that which is available under Windows. But it's like buying a higher-quality car: it will be more fun to drive, easier to maintain, safer ... and much more expensive. There's a good reason why cheaper cars are popular. > Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 11:41:23 -0300 > From: John Christie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > I have to agree on the ignorance issue and would like to point out > an anomalie. PC tech support, not tier 1 grunts, but tier 2 people, > contains an above average proportion of Mac and Windows folks. > People who know computing and know about alternatives to Windows > don't use Windows. It is rare that they will say they prefer it. This has not been my experience, after working in multi-platform environments for 4 years. Almost without exception, the people that I consider knowledgable in the way you describe above are using Windows *and* some other platform(s). A number of them prefer Windows, but they still use Linux, for example, because of the appropriateness of the platform for certain situations. I don't own a Mac myself, although my daughter uses a Mac Classic. I would use a Mac if I were doing web design professionally. > Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 08:09:09 -0700 > From: Amber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Yes, still narrow minded. In these days and times, professionals > in web design and similar areas should be familiar with both Mac > and PC. With this last point I concur. Mac Duff, this is another vote in favour of your sister gaining Mac experience, if not buying a Mac outright. Linux should not be ignored, either, but I would focus on Macs first. Zac -- Mac Canada is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Shop Canadian, visit Mantek Services <http://www.mantek.mb.ca> Low Prices That Will Keep YOU and Your MAC Smiling Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Mac Canada info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/mac-can.shtml> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-canada%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
